Cold Eyes (Korean)

Ratings: 8.5/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Action Thriller

I've been hit by a spell of awesome movies lately and I'm so glad I went to my local video store to have a quick look around... cos that was when I found this movie, sitting on an obscure shelf almost escaping my scrutiny with its deceivingly dullish DVD cover.

I picked it up.. because it kinda reminded me of Aaron Kwok's Cold War (a pretty good Chinese movie). The sypnosis drew me in; a new female recruit with an impeccable memory and keen obseravations joins the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Unit (SCU) led by yet another outstandingly intelligent character, her veteren chief officer. However, it takes more than the 2 of them to track down the main villian for this movie... a stealth-like mastermind behind the top crimes in the city. The villian is off-the charts cool... his flaire mirrors that of Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men and his likeability that of Liam Neeson's Taken; he's such a formidable foe he'll probably outmatch both of them blindfolded. 

Thankfully, it's 6 (or more from SCU) vs 1... levelling the playing field. Now that's how Cold Eyes, with its crappy movie title is a notch above all the other Korean thriller movies I've caught. There's a slight advantage on the good guy's side, cos of the numbers, yet, at the same time you find yourself cheering on for the villian. It's a feel good movie both ways. It's not so much about which side to cheer for but more on being blown away by the intellect and intensity of this hidden gem. 

Though the start was rather confusing, it didn't take more than 10 mins into the film for things to clear up. From start to end, it was a mental rollercoster ride - engaging, top speed. Couldn't even allow myself to be distracted because I was afraid of missing the subtitles. 

The actors and actresses were well cast, and everyone was super convincing in their roles. Thanks to their acting, filming style and the actions scenes, and despite having a few obviously CG-ed scenes, it felt like an grade-A movie. Mild humour that's not cheesy and the scripting, cinematography, camera angles and scene flows were all well thought of. To be frank, there's almost no flaws in this. It exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds, however the only wall it didn't leap over is my biasedness towards Western films over Asian films. All these while I've refused to believe an Asian film can reach "Hollywood Blockbuster" calibre, well it's time I reach such an epiphany. 

Till date, definitely one of the best Korean Blockbusters I've caught - while it didn't gain immense popularity in the movie industry, it sure topped my Korean library of movies. The English movie title should be more attractively named ... "Shadow".

A true battle of the wittiest! A true gem not to be missed!

Captain Phillips

Ratings: 9.5/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Action Drama

Easily one of this year's best movies. Had my reservations at first. How good can a movie be considering its entire plot has been disclosed in the trailers? Furthermore, it's based on a true story - a fact that's difficult to tackle. Make it too exaggerated and the audience will feel insulted by being taken in by the director riding on a publicity stunt. Make it too realistic and the audience will probably be bored to tears due to the lack of intensity.

So will balancing both sides give you the "perfect" concortion for a movie based on a true story? Well contrary to what I believed, apparently not. This movie opened my eyes to another possibility... character empathy. If one is able to skilfully and masterfully draw us into a stranger's world we just met on the big screens, all this while subconsciously being influenced by the fact that it's based on a true account, it delivers more than just a great movie experience, it delivers a personal privilege. The former has the audience being superior to the film, that the film has to "serve" the owner, "us", while the latter makes the audience at the mercy of the film - having the audience think that they are being given a great privilege to be watching the film. 

Captain Phillips is the captain of a US Cargo ship which was hijacked by Somali pirates. The entire film is about his encounter with them, from start... till end... 

*major spoilers ahead* I'm extremely impressed with the pacing, and the overall format of the film. It's not a one-sided film... at the start it also shows the "origins" of the pirates, letting the audience experience both sides of the shore. There's slight twists in the storyline here and there, which I shan't disclose, to preserve the impact of this great gem. At no time was I able to expect what's coming up, or at least I was too engrossed to want to. There were many quick-witted "outs" Captain Phillips had to churn up to protect his crew and himself. 

As for the ending... it was a blast. Till the very end, I didn't know if Captain Phillips would be able to survive the ordeal or not, but all I can say is that the last scene was very emotional for me. I almost teared. It has been a while since a scene has been able to leave such a strong impression, and I know I'm going to keep talking about it in time to come. 

I tried to find faults in the logicality of some parts of the film, only to find myself answering most of the questions... Ie. to say the scenes and situation he was in was realistically portrayed. While I'm tempted to share my insights, I find this movie too good to disclose anything which might jeopardise your viewing privilege. All I can say is that there's a legit reason why the rescue mission seemed to be an overkill, and that every little action helped lead up to the much-awaited finale. 

Thanks to the A-grade acting of Tom Hanks, the movie was made more convincing, and more engaging. The only 2 jarring flaws with this movie is the acting of the antagonist, the Somali pirate captain, and the shaky style of filming. Initially, the film techniques created a little sea sickness for me, but overtime, my adrenaline was pumping so much I lost sense of actual reality, and was shadowing Tom Hanks throughout his ordeal... not having a breather only until he couldn't speak coherently... 

Strong strong film. Captain Phillips has my vote to win the next Oscars. 

Thor: The Dark World

Ratings: 7.9/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Superhero Action

Jane foster (Natalie Portman) discovers an anomaly in the fabric of the universe and enters another realm where the matter, called Aether, responsible for the universe's creation was secretly kept away by Asgard's (Thor's world/kingdom) ancestors to protect the destruction of the universe from a deity-like race, called the Dark Elves. 

Unknowingly acting as the host of the Aether, the rediscovery of it reawakens the Dark Elves who sparks a catastrophic hunt for it with devastating consequences both to Asgard and potentially to the universe. 

This Marvel sequel is of cosmic proportions, nothing like the other superhero movies and is the main reason Thor triumphs as my favorite Marvel superhero franchise. The graphics is state of the art, realistic enough to draw you into their realms. 

There's lotsa focus on Loki this time round as well, and though he's a badass villain, he's a likeable one, one of my favourite villians due to the charismatic Tom Hiddleston. Anthony Hopkins reprises his role as the mighty Odin, exceptional as always. The rest of the cast complemented the leads very well, especially Natalie Portman's intern and Thor's Asgardian female warrior.  

The only complain I have was the overloading of funny scripting. It was refreshing and light hearted, but on the downside, lessened the severity of the situation... I mean for christ's sake we're looking at the end of the world, not some catastrophic damage to a city, country or even a continent. End of the world, obliteration of the entire universe!! It felt like a live action kids cartoon. 

*spoilers ahead* Overall, Thor: The Dark World wasn't that dark after all, and the killing off of one the leads mid-show was enough a climax to get my undivided attention. A great sequel, opening doors to potentially even greater ones.

PS.: There's a stinger at the end so do stay behind after the first part of the credits. 

Byzantium

Ratings: 7.5/10

Film class: B 

Genre: Drama 

Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother, Clara (Gemma Arterton) are vampires who seek refuge at a coastal town in a deserted hostel named Byzantium, after their whereabouts were discovered by a mysterious brotherhood vent on hunting them down. 

*spoilers ahead* Unlike other vampire movies, this one stands out in terms of novelty of the origins of vampires. No one vampire who was supposedly the maker of the others, the only way to convert into a vampire is to locate a secret cave found only by a map passed on to a selected few. 

Also, the scriptwriters dealt away with the usual cliches such as garlic and exorcism-like holy water sprinkling. No crosses to ward the vampires off... because.. it's  not neccessary. These vampires only have the 2 most definitive traits of vampires, their craving for blood, and their immortality. They don't have superhuman strengths, nor do they go around attacking innocent victims. Instead they lead rather normal lives, feeding off humans only when necessary - and only when they have given their consensus.

Byzantium is a vampire movie not meant to scare, but one to skilfully portray the emotional burden of carrying an unorthodox secret and the loneliness of immortality. Elaeanor is emotionally trapped with this secret and decides to share it with a local boy, leading to dreadful consequences. Realistic playout, credible storyline. 

This movie has the finese, a literary rendition of a classic vampire story which stands out in modern day cliche vampire flicks where love and desire doesn't dominate as the main themes. Just like Interview with the Vampire, there's such a strong focus on the main leads due to the demands of good acting that you cannot not feel for them... making it more than just a "movie-watch", an experience worth craving for. 

The Internship

Ratings: 7.4/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Comedy

This made my day, or night. 2 outstanding salesmen settle for an internship at Google after their company shuts down. Good at what they do, but not tech savvy, they must compete with a bunch of smart asses to land them a job. Dislike factor; Owen Wilson: 8/10, Vince Vaughn 7/10. However, putting both of them together, they make an awesome duo. They were pretty good in Wedding Crashers, but somehow their chemistry has evolved to new heights in this movie.

Entertaining, heart-warming and hiliariously crude at times. These 2 guys have no holds barred, yet they still managed to allow the plot to be the main focus. Usually with folks like them (eg. Hangover), all the focus are on the cast, not the story.

Had a short tour in Google Headquarters thanks to the movie and while I'm not sure how true the culture is over there, I sure was impressed with the famously cultivating working environment of Google. I had the thinking that all Google staff are supposed to think out of the box, but in actuality, the so-called "tests" that the interns had to go through was more on building teamwork, being resourceful and expressing humble determination - credible skills and mindset needed of their staff... not some overly fanciful out of the box solutions to everyday realistic problems.

The internship offers more than the simplicity of its poster, it illustrates the limitations of modern day technology, valuable skills needed that is often overlooked in this new millennium and that the "overgrown underdogs" have more to offer in life in this techno-savy present than the modern day geniuses - life lessons that only the "outdated" past can teach.

About Time

Ratings: 6.0/10

Film class: B 

Genre: Sci-Fi Drama

On his 21st birthday, Tim's dad broke the news to him that the guys in his family line has the ability to travel through time. All they have to do is simply to find a dark corner, clench their fist, close their eyes and think back to a point in their life that they want to go back to... Easy peasy. They can't travel to the future, and are able to only travel to a point in their lives. They will then take over themselves at that point in time, and relive that moment all over again, with little impact on the future.

While the time travelling concept is nothing new, the effort needed to actually do it was too incredibly easy, however also causing the credibilty to suffer. Major repercussions such as the butterfly effect were conveniently brushed aside with a simple explanatory matter-of-fact line. *major spoilers ahead* The underlying morality of Tim's ability was also not addressed, shifting the focus to his child-like actions - all he used his ability for was to get a girl to like him and "procrastinate" the death of his father.

If you really think about it, it wasn't a romantic comedy like how most people would expect it to be. Tim's relationship to gorgeous Rachel Adams (the word "gorgeous" was intentionally inserted, rather out-of-place, to justify the higher ratings I gave this movie) was based on deception - using his time travelling ability to perfect conversations, build stronger emotional and physical connections. 

He basically abused his ability to make himself look good... altering his bestman until it reached his ideal outcome... messing around with his sister's boyfriends hoping to make life better for himself so that he doesn't lose his sister, and spending "extra" time with his dad all by himself because he couldn't let go.

It might come across as light-hearted and heart warming to some, but deep down I felt cheated. It was like witnessing a crime and there was nothing I could do about it. At the very least, I had hoped for "aw" romance, but the closest "aw" I got was "aw-ful". 

The World's End

Ratings: 6.1/10

Film class: B+

Genre: Sci-Fi comedy action 

Gary King (Simon Pegg) reunites his group of 4 friends to conquer the most epic drinking marathon 20 years after their failed teenage attempt. It requires them to go from pub to pub (12 pubs in total) in their childhood town, to drink a glass of alcohol at each pub before reaching their final destination, the last pub on their list, The World's End. 

Unknowing to them, the town has been taken over by aliens, forcing them to become unlikely heroes, humanity's last defense. 

While the premise of the plot sounds interesting, the movie failed to deliver. There were funny bits here and there, but the story fell flat with its silly ending. My brain cells went on strike and were willing victims of the alien invasion. 

Strong cast, semi-decent scripts, but on the other extreme side of the spectrum, horrible story development with a disastrous ending. Quite the "complete" movie if you ask me. It was unfortunate, really, with such a strong cast, just like the characters themselves, this movie was struggling hard not to be wasted... And it sure didn't sober up at the world's end. 

The Master

Ratings: 6.2/10

Film class: B

Genre: Drama

A disturbed and aggressive navy veteran returns home and is allured into joining a cult by his charismatic leader. 

Hmm... what more is there? I guess that's about it, the story is as simple as it sounds, depth added by the characters' varied personalities. 

An artsy disturbing movie about the human psyche, especially that of the disturbed war veteran "Joaquin Phoenix", this film is more character study than movie movie per Se. By artsy I mean full of dialogue, full of chopped up random scenes which disrupts your viewing pleasure. It sometimes seems almost draggy, aggravated by the grainy cinematography, and it makes no difference even if you watch this in high def. However, thanks to mr violent, that's where all the "action" comes from. 

There's no take home message here, which kinda makes me feel like I wasted time on it. It's a lengthy one, this one ( like most other off mainstream artsy films), and is sure to screw your mind up a little. If you're not ready for that, then you had better not confront the master... 

Gravity

Ratings: 8.0/10

Film Class: A 

Genre: Action Drama

Is this the first movie made to portray realistically a survival situation in outer space? I don't know the answer myself, but I believe it is. 

I mean there's lotsa sci-fi movies out there, like Star Wars and Star Trek, there's even Moon, but this is possibly the most realistic space movie made. No aliens, no clones, just plain familiar "present-ries", like satellites orbiting Earth, and astronauts maintaining them. 

What seemed like an "everyday" routine turns out to be a disaster for medical engineer Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) when a Russian satellite was blown up. 

It created a chain reaction, causing a bunch of debris to orbit Earth every 90 minutes. The butterfly effect at its bleakest. If you're wondering how exciting can this movie be (like I did) since there's pretty much nothing much out there in space, there's your ans. Top it up with limited oxygen, abandoned space stations, stellar acting from the only two cast in the movie and state-of-the-art CG, Gravity is one insanely intense gem in modern cinema. 

*Spoilers ahead* It didn't occur to me how scary it was until the very first first-person-view shot. I came to understand how disorientating a stranded somersaulting astronaut in space would feel like, and I felt pretty giddy during the first 30 mins of the film, thanks to the skilful film making which added such realism there was no way any audience wouldn't empathize with Ryan. 

The director wasted no time in introducing us to Matt's personality during the opening scene, subtlety through his conversations with Houston, the land comms station. I personally thought this was well-thought because it not only injected humour to a possibly monotonous setting, it also contributed to alleviating despair with a light-hearted sense of hope which would otherwise be missing if it was simply a solemn movie. 

Some of the parts were quite ingenious, on how Ryan tried to save herself, and there was always a "dead-end" somewhere, to create that added sense of tension. Will she be saved? Or will she die in space? After all, surviving in space is all about 10% oxygen, 20% determination and 70% luck. 

Gravity is nothing like I've ever seen. Despite only 2 cast, it truly deserves an "A" for film class due to the CG and the acting. I really felt as though I was in outer space (though I will never know how it really feels like) even though I only watched it in 2D. Even the scripting and storyline delivered. It was a full package - A space experience you don't want to miss. 

Switch

Ratings: 1.0/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Action

One of the worst movies I've watched. No, correction, make it the worst. Switch makes the flop Chinese movie The Treasure Hunter look good, that's how disastrous this is.

I shan't even spend more than a sentence explaining the plot, because when I started watching it, the plot became irrelevant, nothing made sense. Even if you had read the synopsis at the back of the DVD cover (like I did), you'll feel cheated because the synopsis is as good as it could ever be. In this case, words speak more than a thousand pictures. The dead text was more interesting than the sum of pictures put together. 

But if you must know, Switch is about a stolen treasure, one half of a painting, that somehow everyone wants to get their hands on. 

It must have been so embarrassing for Andy Lau to star in this... He either didn't know what he was getting into, or he was seriously desperate for cash. It's no surprise to see Taiwanese beauty Lin Chiling star in yet another flop movie, let's face it, she's got the looks, but she can't act. Still, she's makes the movie a little bit less torturous. 

I haven't felt so negative about a movie in a long while, but it didn't take Switch to make me feel that way 15 mins into the movie. I thought it was a flukish feeling, I mean, there's Andy Lau and Lin Chiling in this for christ's sake, but I so wanted to give up 49mins into the film. I somehow managed to force myself to sit through the entire movie because I wanted to be fair in my critique, despite already knowing what the outcome would be. 

At least the senseless fighting scenes were decent, and the cinematography was scenic. It was like watching bits and pieces of different adverts from time to time; there's Andy Lau in a watch commercial, in a car commercial, in a beach resort commercial etc. Mostly showing off a picturesque Dubai. 

There was zilch character development, due to the annoying jump cut scenes which never lasted more than 5 minutes each. There wasn't any continuity in the scenes and the progression was all too convenient. During one scene you see Andy Lau on the verge of death, the next, the villains traveling to a secluded forested region, the next, a group of doctors trying to save Andy Lau, the next, 5 yrs later, he's all good to go. Yup, this is just one example of how slipshod the director's works is. 

I 2nd the opinion of a reviewer on imdb, that the director should be banned from directing any movies in future. It's just a disgrace to the industry. It's an insult to movie goers, and to the fans of those poor stars. I can't believe I paid $19.90 for this, and a thought flashed past my mind during the movie, I actually thought of stopping the movie, ejecting my DVD, and snapping it in half. Yes, I felt terribly insulted. I had actually contributed to the director in "recuperating his losses". 

Switch was a low class copycat of Mission Impossible, with the wire hangings, and the face disguises. There was an "ultimate" twist in the movie! The villain had a face disguise to cover up his own face! Cos his "real" face was disfigured in a fire! "Wow!!" Disguising your face with a better looking version of your own face! Who would have thought of that?! 

Too many stunt doubles were used, and the battle between Andy Lau and the villain in fencing suits out of the blue was just lame. It didn't even make sense, the only explanation I could come up with was that the director thought he had come up with an "ingenious" idea of using stun doubles without being too obvious.... FAIL! Stab me please!! 

Note that I haven't added any warnings about spoilers, because trust me, you wouldn't want to torture yourself with this brainless piece of crap. 

Amour

Ratings: 6.5/10
Film Class: C
Genre: Drama

Amour speaks nothing of love... it's dreary, tragic and possibly one of the most undeserving winner of the Oscars - Winner of Best Foreign Language Film of The Year 2013. It got me thinking, is this year's nominees that bad? I haven't been disappointed so far, Life is Beautiful; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; The Lives of Others and Departures were a few of the many winners which left me wanting more. 

When this film ended, I kinda felt that I wasted my time watching it. I was so excited to finally buy it from my local dvd store but now it almost feels like a waste of money. It wasn't ttthhhhaaatttt bad, but it fell flat on my expectations. Even Intouchables could easily beat this (Golden Globe Nominee, a different award)... 

An elderly's couple love is put to the test when the wife comes down with a stroke which paralyses one side of her body. As time goes by, her physical and mental health deteriorates, leaving her dispaired husband having to carry the burden of a promise he made to her all by himself... that he would not send her to a nursing home no matter what happens.

That's what happens when promises are made too readily, kept too blindly... leading to an inevitable tragedy... The twist in the ending happened too abruptly, and I felt the build up of empathy lacking. Before I could even bask in their love for each other, I was repeatedly thrown with scenes of melancholy. 

When it comes to an elderly's couple love, none can beat the one portrayed in Away From Her. It was a movie that till this day resonates in my heart, and mind. Amour, on the other hand is not only a "weaker" version, but also one which is highly forgettable. It almost feels like a documentary, illustrating the harsh reality of life. 

If I had wanted to watch something as tragic as this, I might as well suffocate myself with a pillow. At least I wouldn't have to sit through 2hrs of "torture". There is no silver lining, because the only clouds are overcast ones... The posters however, might just be the rainbow that this movie needs (I love how 2 versions of the posters portrays 2 different angles of the same shot). 

Prisoners

Ratings: 8.2/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Thriller

When the police releases the prime suspect behind the kidnapping of Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) daughter, he takes matters into his own hands and captures the suspect, effecting his own methods to force the truth out of him. But is the suspect really responsible behind the kidnappings (the town has a history of child kidnaps)? Or is he merely an innocent man who just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time? 

That's the big question mark presented in the trailers. We already know what's coming... the kidnapping, the capturing of the suspect... but we don't know if the suspect is guilty or not. The first 45mins or so was the expected buildup, and though it took that long to progress into the storyline proper, it didn't fail to keep its audiences at the edge of their seats. 

I love the filming style, and the dull colors filling this dreary looking town played a huge part in creating the mood for this film. The cinematography during the first 45mins was rather artsy; out of focus split-screen-like shots, slow zooming-in shots of what looked like still-life images of trees and houses etc. All made to mimic the first-person view shots. 

The next hour or so was Saw-like, when Hugh Jackman started torturing this poor bugger... and the director skilfully played around with the audience's repulsion and sympathy for the suspect by presenting ambigous clues. I almost ran the risk of emotional schizo. *major spoilers ahead* I especially liked how the suspect whispered something to Hugh Jackman when he was being assaulted at a parking lot, and the chinese subtitles flashed so fast, words so incoherent it got me thinking, s*** what did I miss? Well, aparently it was intended... and to make matters worst, somehow the chinese subtitles in this movie were very tiny. Yes, tiny, like ants moving on a log tiny. 

Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman gave stellar performances, but there's a haunting question about Jake Gyllenhaal on my mind - is he on drugs? His strong blinking reflex was very prominent in this film, I'm not sure if it was intended, but I don't recall picking this up when I caught his other movies such as Donnie Darko, Source Code, Prince of Persia, Jarhead, Love & Other Drugs, Zodiac, The Day After Tomorrow and the recent End of Watch (yup, I've watched that many of his films... I think I'm a fan).

But he's still likeable nonetheless, despite his irritating blinking reflex. Hugh Jackman dominated the screen most of the time. Do not expect a fast-paced action thriller... There's lotsa dialogue in this, the music almost hypnotising and might not make such a great movie after a long day's work, but everything, the setting, the color scheme, the dialogue, were all crucial in creating the empathetic feel towards the devastated dad. Hell, if it was me, I'll prolly do the same. 

Did I mention that the plot rocks? It was solid. The entire story development was well thought of, and it became clearer piece by piece. Unlike most thrillers, when the twist hits, everything falls into place. Not for this, there were twists here and there, but like pieceing a jigsaw puzzle, even when left with the last few pieces, it wasn't that easy to figure out where the pieces fit in. 

The ending... *warning: major major spoilers alert* was one of the best cliffhangers out there. Normally cliffhanger endings would leave its audiences unsatisfied, but unlike most others, even the ending was so well thought of it blew me away *pun intended*. Towards the end, I wondered, how was the movie going to end with one huge portion of it uncovered? And when the ending scene came on, it wasn't the director's convenient way of saying, ok let's not elaborate this, you should know how it ends. Instead, I knew immediately (though I was stunned for 2 secs just like the rest of people in the cinema) what the director intended... made obvious by the clues he left us throughout the movie. Hugh Jackman is a hunter, he always prepare for the worst, and Jack Gyllenhaal has a perfect record for solving cases... 

The title, though seemingly literal, to indicate that the 2 kidnapped girls were the prisoners, taking into account how well thought the plot and development was, I would think it also refers to the suspect being a prisoner. This is pretty straight forward. But delving deeper, it's not just the 3 individuals, even Hugh Jackman was a "prisoner" himself. The way he keeps asking for God's forgiveness and yet did the things he did, it just goes to show how conflicted, and trapped he really feels. 

I could be overthinking it, but I'm almost as positively sure as Hugh Jackman that it's the case, even though I may not be spot on, I'm sure I'm close to the truth...

Oblivion

Rating: 7.7/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Sci-Fi

A battered Planet Earth remains, where most of its human habitants were wiped out by an invading alien species. The remaining survivors now reside in a space station. Jack and his partner were tasked to protect the power stations which extract Earth's remaining resources that powers up the space station, and also to maintain the drones which protect the power stations. However, when their drones keep disappearing and one of their power stations destroyed, it's up to Jack to hunt down the remaining alien survivors still on Earth and uncover their real motive.

I had thought Oblivion was just another modern day post-apocalytic tale, but it turned out to be a true-blue (or white since the color theme for this movie is obviously white) sci-fi action flick. It had great graphics, realistic setting, story packed a pow wow, and the only thing it fell flat on was the scripting. Not a major issue though, I easily overlooked the bad (extremely bad) scripting cos of the plot.

There wasn't many main cast, and a whole lot of Tom Cruise in this. It was refreshing to see "Jamie Lanister", from Game of Thrones (ok his actual name is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and he did good whatever little screentime he had. Even for Morgan Freeman, his few main appearances I believe was intended to add extra "coolness" to the film. 

Both female leads were gorgeous, literally, especially Olga Kurylenko (who gained popularity after being cast as the Bond girl). There was something about her this one, she made the film "complete", despite being given her bad lines. A particularly memorable scene was when she was in this shuttle plane with Tom Cruise and they had to battle some drones (3 to be exact). There was something very corny and unconvincing about both their acting, even a top-rated actor like Tom Cruise lost some points there, but I can only imagine how silly they must have felt facing a green screen, digging deep and trying hard to express whatever facial emotions they could churn out - which needless to say, failed terribly. 

The first 20 mins or so felt like a horror movie, and there was a hugh twist in the storyline. It wasn't original though, the first thing that came to my mind when the twist hit was that it ressembled another sci-fi movie, the title I wouldn't disclose here. However, it wasn't the originality but the impact of the twist which made it for me. For you curious folks out there, a hint would be that the title of the other movie has something to do with what is "broken" (ok, to be less subtle, destroyed - not the power stations) is in this film. 

Coincidentally, Tom Cruise's name is Jack Harper is in this film, and in his most recent film Jack Reacher, he starred as, Jack Reacher (duh). Perhaps there's something Jack about Tom, because he does fit the name, somehow... and both movies were pretty awesome. 

It turned out way better than I had expected, because the story nailed it. A must watch for sci-fi movie fans! Easily one of the better sci-fi films out there!

Before Midnight

Ratings: 8.0/10

Film Class: C

Genre: Drama

Before Midnight is the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). Possibly the finale for this off-mainstream franchise which solely focuses on 2 main individuals, Jessie (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), whose chance encounter on a train to Europe (Before Sunrise) sparked a romance which spanned across 3 sequels. This trilogy is the rawest, one of the most novel, simple and direct forms of telling a love story - through the eyes of the lovebirds. It's like just tagging along with them for a day with a camera, allowing its viewers to experience a "live" viewing/unfolding of their love story. 

It's full of raw dialogue; witty, interesting, enlightening, sad at times but romantic and sweet most of the time, and never once will you be bored of them. It's your seemingly everyday dialogue, yet it is through them that you get to understand the characters' ideologies, perceptions and family backgrounds better. Well, the latter is especially true for this installment. 

Before Sunrise tells the story of their love blossoming in Vienna, yet due to circumstances, were parted. Before Sunset revisits this love story in Paris and sparks a new chapter. And Before Midnight follows them on their finale chapter of their love story in Greece. 

*spoilers ahead* Before Midnight differs from its predecessors in that there's less focus on the 2 leads, well at least for the initial part. There were more characters involved this time round which didn't work for me because it took out the "essence" of the film. The characters were interesting nonetheless, and the pace really took up when fractures started worsening during the 2nd half of the movie. The highlight for this movie was the bedroom scene, when the couples started their most detrimental quarrel, though it was awkward (and distracting) at first with Julie Delpy showing her boobs while quarreling.

The highlight for Before Sunset was the most vivid for me, also a bedroom scene, but it was more romantic with Julie Delpy strumming a guitar and singing a song which she composed. I was trying hard to recall the highlight scene for the very first movie, Before Sunrise, did a quick youtube search and while I didn't quite find it (the park scene was the closest I got), I was surprised to find that the starting scene where Ethan Hawke tried to convince Julie Delpy to alight the train and spend the day with him, he talked about time travel. 

This is particularly interesting because, *drumroll*, a slight trivia spoiler here, is that at the end of this movie, Ethan once again talks about time travel. I'll have to give props to the director for the ingenuinty of starting and ending his franchise with the same "topic", whether intentional, or not. But this subtle concidence not only reinforces Jessie's ideologies, but also the director's fine eye for details.  

One of the other demerits I found with this movie is the way both of them were conversing with each other. They still felt kinda apart, which made more sense for the first two movies since they weren't together yet, but after being husband and wife, they somehow manage to engage in intellectual conversations without any physical closeness. I mean merely holding hands and having an intellectual conversation might have added a nice subtlety to it.

However, this is debatable because looking at the overall context of the movie, the lack of physical intimacy while strolling along the streets of Greek could be due to their degrading relationship. Still, I believe the love between the both of them was strong even at the end of the movie. *warning, major spoilers ahead* Especially true for Julie Delpy's case since she said she no longer loved Ethan anymore. I believe she said it in a moment of spite, I mean afterall, we all know that most of the time we regret the things we say during a heated argument. As for Ethan's case, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that his love for Julie Delpy was as solid as a rock. 

Before Midnight presents a side of the harsh reality of marriage. It's not without its ups and downs, and warns signs of a broken marriage. However, it also sheds a positive light on the differing views of man and woman, and how to manage our expectations and tackle such problems in future (I'm newly wed). Ultimately, one must never lose sight of why we fall in love with another person in the first place. If we manage to convince ourselves otherwise, then we have only ourselves to blame for failed marriages. 

Pacific Rim

Ratings: 9.0/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Sci Fi Action

It's Gundam meets Godzilla. If there ever was a live action Gundam movie that is. It's plain simple machine vs. monsters, end of the world scenario if humans don't defeat the oncoming alien species that is sneaking through a portal from the seabed. It's has an interesting take on how aliens would invade earth by, and all these while we thought it would be from the "heavens", "hell" would be a good place to start looking. 

While there are inevitably flaws in the story, it makes a cool CG-dominated non-stop (almost) action packed movie with most of the action scenes taking place in the dark. I might have missed the important bits about why the aliens didn't send armies of monsters at one go but a pathetic few every now and then, as if to tease/challenge the human race, but it sure even the odds. In fact, most of the time the humans barely survived an attack.

The cast is relatively unknown, and though not stellar, creates a more "realistic" feel with what looked like your everyday common-folk characters instead of the usual "Hollywood" glam. Also, there's a certain raw look which makes this a more realistic film than Transformers. Actor Ron Perlman is a tickle to watch, always getting giggles from the audience whenever he's introduced as a supporting cast like in his other films, obviously one of main reasons for making it into the director's favorite list of actors. 

There's a westernized anime fusion in this, hints of Japanese influence/inspirations here and there, and which was pretty obvious by starring the rather out of place Rinko Kikuchi (female lead who starred as Mako Mori). Even the terms used to describe the machines and monsters were in japanese. The little girl acting as the younger version of Mako stole the limelight despite having only a mere 10-min screentime. *major spoilers ahead* That said, the part of her savior appearing felt kinda cheesy, killing the mood of the "short clip" of her demise. To look on the bright side, it created what seemed like a glaring closure for that chapter of Mako's background story. 

There are funny bits scattered throughout the film but none too noteworthy. The main focus was the awesome fighting scenes between the machines and monsters. There's a good buildup of intensity for the fighting scenes and the highlight came midway (parts of it are shown in the trailer). The ending, though not as satisfyingly long as the fight scene in the middle, was a visual spectacle of boomz. 

I was silently hoping to get a glimpse of a possible sequel after the credits but all I got was "What the hell happened to my boot?". (In this case it's not a stinger but a "sting" I guess. Cos the extra scene came midway during the credits)

Pacific Rim is a sure hit among the guys, but might not fair as well for the ladies. The closest thing to romance you'll find here is a forehead kiss, and the only "hugs" are the direct opposite of bromance... 2 guys beating the crap out of each other. 

Though the machines and monsters might look the same due to the color hues, there are some really commendable efforts invested into the details. The types of weaponry and fighting styles were clearly distinguishable for both the monsters and machines. 

The only complain I have is the sound, which I believe to be the fault of the theatre's and not the production of the film. If you're wondering, the title "Pacific Rim" possibly came from the crack in the seabed, which was the portal between our world and the alien's, which looked like a rim underwater. And the fights are mostly at the pacific coast. 

Pacific Rim has made the dreams of most anime fans come true, anime-styled movie with awesome Hollywood graphics. Best of both worlds. What more could they, we, ask for?

Despicable Me 2

Ratings: 5.5/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Animation Comedy

Villian-turned hero Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villian League (AVL) to stop a new anonymous supervillian who stole an evil turning serum from a secret laboratory in the Arctics. It's up to Gru and his new AVL partner to uncover the identity of this supervillain and his true intentions. 

For you blind fans out there who's probably cursing me cos of the extremely low ratings, hear me out objectively. Despicable Me 2 has lost the focus of it's orginal intention. Even though Gru and his 3 little darling sweethearts are still in the movie, let's face it, this is a Minions movie. It has taken the same route as Ice Age, diverging the focus from the main leads, and has resulted in a complete different concoction of silly and childish humor. No doubt the minions are cute and entertaining to watch, but not when they take up close to 80% of the entire movie. Because of that, the director compromised on less build up for the other characters.  

I seriously didn't know what I was watching. And the most disappointing part was that the focus on the 3 little girls was pathetic, which really made it for me in part 1. The youngest girl was so cute she made my day with her cheek bobbles in the first movie, but the only thing I can remember for this sequel is the minions acting all spastic over and over again. 

Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely entertaining to watch the minions, but there was too much of them and because every situation or scene they were in was a guaranteed "stupid" moment, it became spastic overtime.  I'm perhaps too harsh with the adjective. To be blunt, it was too childish for me. The minions were being cute for the sake of being cute so pardon me for not appreciating this kind of humor. 

I found myself mildly laughing throughout the movie, with a good 2-3 really funny scenes, and though there was a decent plot with an impressive vibrance of colors to really liven up the screens, this animated sequel reminded me of the famous proverb "Too much of anything is good for nothing", and has glamously shed light on what it really means. 

I'm almost 100% positive that another sequel will be made, whether it's a Minions movie or a 3rd instalment of Despicable Me, it's going to be downhill from here on... sigh.

Jack Reacher

Rating: 8.2/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Action Thriller

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is a drifter and a former major in the U.S. army military police corps. He had recieved many military awards but went off the grid, reasons unknown. As claimed from one scene, he cannot be found, unless he wants to. He resurfaces after a former miltary sniper went on a killing spree and shot 5 random victims. The reason of his reappearance? To convict the murderer of his crime. This seemingly straight forward case was picked up by defense attorney Helen Rodin, who also happens to be the District Attorney's daughter, and manages to persuade Jack Reacher to investigate the case further. You know what's coming... nothing is as it seems (if not there's wouldn't be a movie) and Jack uncovers a conspiracy which puts both his and Helen Rodin's lives on the line. 

Thankfully, Jack Reacher is almost as untouchable as Bryan Millis, retired CIA agent from the movie Taken. With that knowledge, through the introduction of his character, makes his unadvantageous situations less intense. It's not a bad thing, cos' despite so, Tom Cruise's superb acting sometimes makes you forget that he's that invulnerable with his occasional panicky expressions. All I'm saying is that it's less of a character empathy movie but more of a "can't wait to see him kick more asses" movie. 

It turned out way better than I had thought it was capable of achieving. There's plot, there's humor, yup, humor alright, not a one-off thing but little bits here and there, there's action, coolness and the only thing lacking, is romance. Which of course, isn't vital in an action thriller. I'm not watching this movie for "aw" moments or kissing scenes (zilch in this one, it's a sexually clean movie), I was hoping for stress-relieving action and I got more than what I hoped for... 

Jack Reacher is so underrated there wasn't any hype about it when it came onto the big screens, reasons I can only assume lies in the main lead. There has been bad publicity about Tom Cruise recently, still, I think he's one of the giant actors (even though he's only 1.7m in height) in Hollywood who can really act. 

*major spoilers ahead* Puzzled by one point of the movie was why the murderer paid for parking. It was brought up around 3 times by Jack Reacher, and though the "truth" was staring blatantly at me, I was a bit lost cause there wasn't a direct explanation of it. I kinda shut my brains off. Well, if you were as confused as I was, I found out that because the coin used for the parking had the murderer's prints on them and it was to frame the suspect. And since it was to frame the suspect, it had to be planted, which ie. to say, paying for parking, didn't make sense. Literally. It's just there to fabricate the evidence. 

Shucks, I had to use a bit of brains afterall. All in all, Jack Reacher was really fun to watch, exciting, intense, and engaging. Cute at times with its light-hearted humour. 

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Ratings: 7.4/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Action Fantasy Thriller

It was an enjoyable remake of the classic Hansel and Gretel fairytale story, it seems the trend of Hollywood is making darker fairytales these days... Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast (Beastly), Snow White (Snow White and The Huntsmen), well the list goes on, and will continue to do so I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if 3 Little Pigs and The Singing Bone comes on screen in time to come. 

However, in this version of Hansel & Gretel, the focus weren't on the bread crumbs, but more on Hansel & Gretel, and the sisterhood of witches. Though the CG for the witches were scary, this isn't a horror movie but an action-packed movie with horrific creatures, somewhat like Van Helsing. Ok now, I'm stating the obvious, but there is a certain twist to the story which makes it rather interesting to watch, not some no-brainer witch-blowing movie. 

After burning the witch who held them captive when young, the brother sister duo Hansel & Gretel grew up to become witch hunters. Their newest case unknowingly leads them to uncover a brewing plot to forever change the fate of witches. 

*spoilers ahead* The trailer was rather misleading, I had thought most parts of the movie was for Hansel to save his kidnapped sister. But it was just a tiny-weeny part, Hansel & Gretel were separated very early, but each had their "cool" moments. In fact, Gretel was more kickass than Hansel, and nothing beats watching a badass beauty in kickass action. 

Predictable plot, and even though the twist was predictable, it makes a great light-hearted film to catch.

World War Z

Ratings: 8.8/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Action Horror

World War Z's fast-paced and cuts to the chase minutes into the movie, and the suspense kept running throughout. Possibly one of the best zombie apocalypse movies out there, where the focus was more on the plot, at the same time it didn't shortchange zombie movie fans with the lack of zombie action. The tension was breath-gasping and the scenes were mostly original, *major spoilers ahead* stacking of zombies up a Jerusalem wall, zombies being sucked out of a plane, and the classic video-game-styled melee-combat mission to get to a potential "antidote". 

Retired UN elite investigator Gerry is re-recruited to act as an escort for a leading Doctor who might be able to find a cure for a virus outbreak which turns humans into zombies in seconds. However, things doesn't go smoothly and he's forced to go on his own mission to find the antidote to save humanity. 

No time was wasted in introducing the characters, direct and straight to the point, the action comes in shortly after the first introductory scene. And from then on, it's intense action over and over again. This movie doesn't use gore or sudden soundblasts to scare the audience, instead, it fills your bottle of anticipation with suspense and breaks it with popping zombies. 

Though the story development was hastily done, with some parts being too ridiculously convenient (the finding of WHO HQ which is in the middle of nowhere), I'm more forgiving towards it compared to Man of Steel mainly because of the genre. I mean afterall, zombie movies are meant to be at least 50% brainless so that the audience can have a great time being scared-relaxed and the plots always tend to be very cliche. Not for this though. 

*major major spoilers ahead* It has an interesting twist to the antidote and whilst the ending was a little abrupt, this 116 mins film sure does know how to distinguish itself from other zombie movies. The close to ending scene was super cool when Brad Pitt walked his way out of a horde of flesh-eating zombies after drinking a can of pepsi from a deserted vending machine. 

One of my favourite zombie flicks which packs well-balanced suspense, a fresh plot, diverse cast and it's more of an action horror than a scary horror-type fiilm. Realistic scenarios if the world was to be infested with zombies and even the workings behind the antidote was scientifically/evolutionarily logical. Good stuffZ!

Stoker

Ratings: 7.9/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Stoker is a disturbing, emotionally packed sensuous powerhouse film which beautifully reels its viewers in. It's sick (duh, what do you expect from the director of Oldboy?), thought-provoking, and in a warped sense, elegantly beautiful. Kudos to the director's eye for great cinematography. The camera techniques and style used were refreshing and had a finesse of its own - transition continuity and 360 degrees panning scenes.

After the death of India's father, her charismatic uncle mysterious shows up. Wary yet intrigued by her newly arrived uncle, she gradually uncovers a dark secret which sets into motion a twisted attraction. 

Storyline wise it's predictable, but it's the build up which was applausable. Despite being a dialogue driven movie, the gripping suspense kept my eyes glued to the screen throughout. There were some mildly erotic disturbing scenes which portrayed more depth than what it seemed. The stoic expressions of the 3 main characters, India, her mother and her uncle, created a "Live"-like theatrical arthouse element to the movie, even though it may seem rather unnatural and unrealistic at times. 

*major spoilers ahead* There's some room for your imagination and not everything is laid out as clear cut as the disclosure of the cause of accident which took India's father's life. It's more of a psychological thriller than an erotic thriller and as the title suggests, it's all about India Stoker, and the movie allows its viewers to have a front row seat inside the mind of this mysterious adolescent. 

*warning: major major spoilers ahead* The opening scene started off with a brief and vital introduction to our female protagonist, that she is special in a way that her senses are more "advanced" than others. She's able to hear the softest of things, and is extremely observant to her surroundings. This ability of hers sets the premise of her uncovering things that normally an ordinary person would be oblivious to. 

The scene was unexpectedly revisited at the end, and the seemingly innocent opening scene turned out to be more than meets the eye.. just like India herself.

The movie's main theme is India's sexual awakening, which was ignited by her charming uncle. However, this sexual awakening transcends more than just physical attraction, but a pyschological one. Her fantasies weren't the purest of forms, and it's that one bathroom scene which exposed her true inner psyche. 

Stoker is definitely a movie which will "haunt" the minds of its audience, as did Thirst (Korean vampire movie by the same director) did to me. Somehow, this Korean director has skilfully managed to successfully make every movie experience so pyschologically disturbing that it's tough to forget. Chan-wook Park, I "hate" you, for opening up that "sick awakening" inside of me... Respect. 

Safe Haven

Ratings: 6.2/10

Film Class: C

Genre: Romantic Mystery Drama

I'll be honest with you, I didn't sit through the entire movie with my undivided attention, yet I'm confident my sentiments about the film will ring a familiar echo to most viewers... Safe Haven is more scary than romantic. Despite being adapted from the novel by Nicholas Sparks, who also wrote the classic "The Notebook", it wasn't as romantically engaging.

This is a darker film about a young woman's mysterious dark past which comes back to haunt her as she seeks refuge in a small town and falls in love with a man who had just lost his wife. The pre-ending might even make you jump in your seat, but the ending twist made this movie better than just mediocre. The leads lacked genuine chemistry and felt rather mismatched, maybe cos their actual age difference is a stunning 16 years? Not much character development for the man's son and  the justification for his behavior towards his father. On the flip side, his little girl was such a charm to watch. 

I thought it could be better, on the romance and character development part. But suspense wise, pretty good, and the unexpected twist at the end won it additional brownie points. 

The Man with the Iron Fists

Ratings: 6.5/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Action

This is director RZA's sad excuse to make himself look cool and to satisfy his fantasy of making a true-blue Hollywood Kung Fu movie - the fusion of East meets West, like The Forbidden Kingdom. While the cool part for himself failed, it was to a certain extend, pretty cool. Though I didn't like the soundtrack which came along with the action scenes, I guess that's what draws the line and differentiates between Hollywood and "HongKongwood" Kung Fu films.

*major major spoilers ahead* The characters were unique in their own way, fighting stance way I mean; with Russell Crowe, a western-style gun-man, Rick Yune, the knifes/blade master, Dave Bautisa (WWE Wrestler) with his impenetrable brass-like body, Cung Le with a craw-like cane and fights with his "craws" (bare hands), villainous mastermind Byron Mann with his craw-like weapons whom I initially mistook for the man with the iron fists, Daniel Wu as the stealth assasin who shoots poison darts, Lucy Liu as the disguised master of cut-throat fans and of course, RZA, who is the Man with the Iron Fists. 

Expect a no-brainer, yet entertaining action movie with the different characters battling it out with the newly appointed scheming leader of the Lion Clan, Silver Lion (Byron Mann) who goes around creating chaos, driven by his greed for power and the emperor's gold. 

Having Chia Hui Liu star as an abbot just goes to show the true intentions of the director - to make a Hollywood Kung Fu movie because most of the chinese actors in this film (there's many more apart from those mentioned above) were Kung Fu "legends" during their prime years, or either they were no strangers to the Kung Fu scene in "HongKongWood". 

It's obviously a low budget film with the repetitive settings (in an enclosed room, just that the layout was a bit different) but I was convinced it deserves a "B" for film class because of the diversity of the cast. Despite the cons, its a watchable Kung Fu action-packed film that's 65% badass. 

Cloud Atlas

Ratings: 6.8/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Fantasy Drama

This narrative-style artsy fantasy film spans across 6 main plots, across different eras which are somehow connected. Unlike connect-the-dots movies like Crash and Love Actually, the ending doesn't tie up everything blatantly, it left me rather confused and wondering whether I had wasted 172 mins of my life. I would love to think there is a deeper meaning behind the entire plot, but unlike Youth Without Youth (another brain-haemorrhagic-inducing film), I don't even know where to start thinking from. 

Lemme try to summarise the 6 main plots: there's one on a futuristic tribe, one of song composing, one on an ocean voyage with a twist, one on the uprising of a clone in yet another futuristic world, one on a publisher with his encounters in an old folk's home and one on journalism to uncover a conspiracy. The main themes are love, deceit and beliefs.

There were of course hints here and there, but they're like catching bird droppings (pardon me but I can't think of a better analogy). They're so random, and you'll have to be extremely sharp to catch those hard-to-pronounce, hard-to-register names verbally thrown out by the different characters. It's those names that will give you a better overall picture. But even if you do catch them, there's not much time to think. It's like watching a montage of short clips, the scenes of the 6 main plots kept alternating, contributing to the confusion.

Con(s). Confusing plot, with no proper closure. 

Pros. Great cast, and was interesting to see them being "re-used" in the 6 different settings. Some of the characters were obvious, while there were a handful disclosed during the ending credits which will leave you thinking "No way!" 

The words used during the narration sounded so beautifully poetic, even though there was a whole chunk load of words which I don't understand.

While logic states that 2 pros outwieghs 1 con, the duration of the film magnified the con. I don't think it's that worth your time, unless you're someone who can spare lots of it. 

Man of Steel

Ratings: 7.2/10

Film Class: A- 

Genre: Superhero Action

Is this new remake of Superman as good as the reviews say it is? Not for me. Then again, none of the Superman instalments have yet to create that wow factor for me. I'm a huge huge fan of Marvel and DC superheroes, but despite being the ultimate bestest superhero in the DC kingdom, this remake didn't soar. 

Man of Steel is about the origins of Clarke Kent, an "alien" with a great destiny on Earth... oh wait a minute, why am I describing Superman like no one knows about him? Who the Krypton/Earth doesn't know about possibly the most famous superhero ever created? But do you know who General Zod is? Since I'm a self-proclaimed fan who doesn't buy any superhero comics to read, I can only brag about knowing who this supervillain is from my acquaintance with him in the US series Smallville. 

General Zod is in charge of the military forces on Krypton, but when Krypton was on the verge of destruction, he takes the opportunity to lead a rebellion as their new ruler. However, he and his crew were captured and banished to the Phantom Zone (a prison for villains). But it proves to be a 'blessing' in disguise because the destruction of their planet also freed the banished villains, allowing them to seek for the lost "son".

*major spoilers ahead* Because the villains are from the same planet as Superman, don't expect any kryptonite to be used. In terms of superpowers, they are relatively on par. As for the plot development, it was blockishly hasty and the chemistry between Superman and Louis Lane was unconvincingly rushed. Everything happened too conveniently fast, creating the oxymoron of a smooth rocky plot. 

It was too cool, too fast. The director wasted no time in developing Clarke Kent's character, prepared a few scenes of his background story and how he controlled his abilities like teaser trailers, and went straight to the "exciting" part, the fight between his Zod's crew and him. There was a brief scene of Lana Lang, Clark Kent's first love and one on LuthorCorp though Lex Luthor didn't come on screen. We also get acquainted with the "real" meaning of the "S" symbol on Superman but there was no explanation/background on how or why his father created his outfit as we know it to be. I mean, why the cape? (I was silently hoping for an explanation because his cape created more of a liability [villains could hold his untearable cape and fling him around, which General Zod did] than being practically beneficial.

And why did everyone start calling him Superman? How did that term come about? Well, from the movie, it just did. It wasn't like how people called Batman "Batman", there's no obvious reason or a hint of "Super" behind Superman's costume and humans didn't know how Super he was. Was it the "S" on his costume then? Which we all assumed he got his superhero name from before this film? Guess you won't find out in Man of Steel. 

Action was good, though graphic-wise could have been better. A little fak-ish at parts, especially when he started to fly across different continents. 

*major major spoilers ahead* From what I know, General Zod is supposed to be EVIL, but in this movie, he's more like a villain fighting for a different cause, to save his race at the expense of humans. It reminded me of the villain from Star Trek Into The Darkness, which made it for Star Trek, but broke it for Man of Steel. Director Zack Synder should have tweaked it a little as he did with the fate of Zod (which didn't tally with the comics) and just made General Zod the ultimate hated villain without any rationale for destroying Earth. 

Henry Cavill was too bulky to my liking as Superman and was given only a few lines throughout the movie. Not sure why this was so (possibly because he can't really act?), but it made him feel more distant for the audience to connect to. It was "cute" to see Laurence Fishburn being cast as "Perry White", not sure if the pun was intended and both Laurence Fishburn and Amy Adams didn't look as how I had remembered them to be, if you know what I mean. ;p 

Overall, I did enjoy it, but something was lacking... probably cos' I had hoped for a smoother plot flow. I wouldn't have minded a 3hr-long movie with better pacing instead of a jam-packed action-packed superhero film with massive destruction all over.

The Grandmaster

Ratings: 5.2/10

Film Class: C

Genre: Action Drama

Set in the era of Ip Man's prime, the film is about the handling over of the prestigous title of "Grandmaster" by Master Gong, who is well respected and reputed in northern China. Arriving in Foshan, southern China, and challenging the masters of the South, they send Ip Man to bring honor to the martial arts of the South.

The defeat of Gong and the crowning of the new Grandmaster ignites a chain of events which acts as the basis of the film's plot.

Being a Donnie Yuen Ip Man fan, I was skeptical about another Ip Man movie being made without the original star... . It's like making another Iron Man sequel without Robert Downey Jr., or Pirates of the Carribean without Johnny Depp. In fact, there were 2 recent Ip Man movies, the other starring Anthony Wong. I gave this a try because of Tony Leung, but it turned out to be as I had expected, a futile attempt at milking the franchise. It was such a letdown, I almost couldn't finish it.

*major spoilers ahead* The opening scene of Ip Man fighting in the rain with a bunch of baddies totally felt like a stand alone scene and added no value to the plot development. Ie. No link. All it did was showcase Ip Man's fighting, and it almost felt like a last minute addition. The director probably only realised that there wasn't enough action scenes after filming the scenes, and so decided to make one more hoping to please his audience.

And is this movie about Ip Man? NO, it wasn't. That's big news for you. Then who's the lead star you might ask? It's Zhang Ziyi, acting as Gong Er, Master Gong's daughter who wants to bring back the honor to her family name. She has to fight Ip Man, fight her evil god-brother Ma San and crosses path with this nationalist patriot, nicknamed "The Razor". Who is "The Razor" and why did I mention his name? He's apparently an undercover covert agent for China when the Japanese took over and while there's a few scenes of him, there's absolutely no link (omg, not again?!?) between his character and that of Ip Man's, an obvious hint that the lead star isn't Ip Man but Gong Er instead. And that one scene of their paths crossing only took a minute or so.

The Grandmaster failed on multiple levels, with the wishy washy scenes accompanied with overly subtle dialogue, the director 's intention to bring artsiness to this movie failed especially for the finale. It was so draggy at the end and watching the tension between the 2 suppressed love birds (Ip Man and Gong Er) was more torturing than sweet. 

To be right smack honest, it was a total waste of my time and I felt sorry for myself for letting curiosity get the better of me...